The COVID-19 crisis offers important lessons in this regard. The intuition behind Europe’s response to the pandemic was that a common, symmetric, external shock to economic policymaking called for common, internally coherent, and consensual solutions. This translated into a political agreement to create a centralized spending initiative financed with funds raised by the European Commission. […]
In November 2020, in response to COVID, the European Commission has adopted a proposal for a Health Union package. It aims at strengthening the European Health security framework which proved to be insufficient during the COVID-19 crisis. It is early to assess the package that is still in the legislative process. But a preliminary assessment […]
One of the stated goals of the DSA is to ensure a “transparent and safe online environment” across the EU. New rules for online platforms, which also include tech giants such as Facebook, Google, and TikTok, are intended to help with this. For the first time, it’s not just about setting guidelines for moderating and […]
Anyone on social media after the release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT at the end of November 2022 was not only amazed at the technology’s impressive capabilities, but also gloated about how quickly it could be taken for a ride. For example, it was relatively easy to generate discriminatory or even extremist texts and instructions on how […]
The next big test of the G20’s credibility will come when (or if) its finance ministers and central bank governors meet for the World Bank and International Monetary Fund spring meetings on April 18-24. As the leading forum for international economic policy cooperation today, the G20 will have a crowded agenda. Top-line issues include central […]
It is an understatement to say that Brussels is holding its breath until the results of Sunday’s election in France are known. According to the latest polls, Emmanuel Macron will emerge victorious from the second round of the presidential election. And while the presidential candidate’s campaign team is focusing on the final spurt, the ingredients […]
After Emmanuel Macron’s victory last Sunday, one might expect the French rooster in Brussels to crow loudly. But that is not quite as certain.Great laughter shook Brussels when the “Bubble” had to listen to Marine Le Pen during the election campaign saying that France was not sufficiently defended on the European stage. Certainly, Germany does […]
The Conference on the Future of Europe is coming to an end. On today’s Europe Day its final report will be published and delivered to the presidents of the EU institutions – a result of a more than a year of deliberations among over 50,000 European citizens. Its far-reaching 49 proposals include the end of […]
In a matter of months, the European Union has reduced its dependence on Russian oil so much that it is now ready to impose an embargo. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has announced a plan to ban Russian crude oil imports to most of the EU in the next six months, and refined […]
With quite a bombastic and at times slightly weird plenary, the Conference on the Future of Europe officially ended last week. For one year, 800 randomly selected citizens had discussed necessary reforms for the EU. Now they are calling for changes, some of them far-reaching, such as the end of the unanimity principle in EU […]